Digging for gas, oil in Palawan may happen after 5 years - DOE exec

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MANILA - Digging for oil and natural gas may begin only 5 years after the Philippine government and an Israeli company signed an exploration deal, an official of the Department of Energy said Friday.

• PH, Israeli firm strike Palawan oil exploration deal

The drilling, which would be the "ultimate determination" of whether or not there is oil and gas in the East Palawan Basin and how much there is, would only be done after 2 years of gathering of 2D seismic data and other geophysical data and another 2 years of 3D seismic data, said Usec. Donato Marcos.

Israeli company Ratio Petroleum Ltd. will spend around a million dollars in the first 24 months alone, said Marcos.

In 2014, the Philippines sold the data from a survey done through third-party outsourcing and this piqued the interest of Ratio Petroleum.

While the data found reserves, further studies have to be done in order to determine how much of it is "recoverable" before finally determining these through actual drillings, said Marcos.

So far, the government knows that there are about as much reserves in the basin, which is about 416,000 hectares big, as there is in the Malampaya plant, he said.

The Israeli company has committed $34,350,000 worth of investment in the project on top of a $100,000 signing bonus, said Marcos.

Another $100,000 is allotted as a "redevelopment assistance fund," $5,000 as scholarship fund, and an annual $50,000 for training, he said.